Tuesday, October 21, 2008

In order to address the 1850's thrist for petrol I've been looking at replacing the carburettors. The car came with twin SU HS6s on a TR7 manifold. I know this because I had to get a TR7 airbox as the 1850 airbox wouldn't fit. One of my Dolomite friends (I'll call him Alun) made me an offer of a straight swap: some SU HS4s on an 1850 manifold for my known working HS6s. He even sent me the carbs (along with another pair for spares) at his own expense on the proviso that I do the same with mine or bring them along at the next event that we're both attending. Top man. He's definitely a big Dolomite fan with the biggest collection of Dolomites in the West Midlands. The job of fitting them was easy enough and it was cheaper then the TC conversion I did on Snowdrop. I spent just £20 on parts from T.D. Fitchett who were on top form with their quality of parts & next-day delivery. I had to cannibalize the rear carbs to make a decent one but I've now got the car running and performance seems to have improved. I've put £10 worth of unleaded from the local Tesco at 97.9p a litre. Hopefully it should go a bit further now.

Blue has been in regular use lately (just passed 34,000 miles) and hasn't missed a beat.